Behind the Ice Masquerade
by Ocean of the Moon
Summary: Touya has been working harder than the other five demon. Genkai is not pleased and sends him to travel with a friend through Makai. What she didn't know was that her friend entered in the Dark Tournament and Touya's a part of the team.
1. Chapter 1

I'm so sorry that I haven't updated in forever. First I got writer's block; then I was banned from because I was in my senior year at high school. I was still writing though, I just had to handwrite everything before retyping them. I'll try to do better but it might be difficult as I am in college.

Again, I'm sorry!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho.

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* * *

Behind the Ice Masquerade**

**Chapter 1: Problem and Solution**

Touya sighed as a yell of "Chuu, you drunken oaf! Give me that sake bottle, right now! No! I said now! Not after you drink it!" echoed through the house. By the sound of it, Rinku was now trying, emphasize on trying, to take the sake bottle away from the larger demon. And, judging by the amount of noise that they were making, they were going to have either an angry and very vain clown or a livid samurai yelling at them or threatening them. Though it was most likely to be the latter doing both and he would make himself known in…three…two…one…

"Both of you SHUT UP! Or I'll cut out each of your voice boxes and shut you up permanently!" the livid slate haired samurai yelled. The noise immediately ceased. Though he was in the next room, Touya could imagine the scene. Rinku and Chuu would be frozen in place, their hands on the sake bottle from their tug-o-war, facing the doorway. In the doorway would be a half dressed Shishiwakamaru, Shishi for short, looking murderous. His hair would be disheveled and his horns were probably sticking out in top of his head. In his hand would be the drawn Banshee Shriek.

"Shishi, don't hurt them. We've got training today and you know how Genkai can get," Touya called, trying to stop the samurai.

"I don't care right now! These two should know better than to fight first thing in the morning and wake everyone up with their fight!"

"I agree but cutting their voice boxes out or whatever you're planning to do to them won't help." Silence answered his remark and Touya decided to play his trump card.

"Shishi, if you hurt them, I'll deep freeze the raspberries I was going to serve with breakfast."

"Don't you dare!" Shishi shrieked as he did a complete about face. The ice master smirked at the sound, knowing that he had won.

"I will unless you get Suzuki up and get ready for the day." There was the sound of running footsteps as the demon samurai scrambled to follow Touya's instructions. A moment later, Rinku regained his senses and yanked the sake bottle from his former teammate's hands. The commotion caused by that action covered up the undignified yelp of Suzuki as he was dumped out of his bed by his roommate. At the same time, Jin flew over to see what all the commotion was about. When he saw Chuu chasing Rinku, who was holding a sake bottle, around, he could guess what happened.

"Mornin' Icy. Was the big ape tryin' ta get some ale in 'im afore trainin' started?"

"How did you guess?" the pale demon asked dryly. He finished preparing breakfast and began to take it to the table as he continued. "Rinku tried to stop him but they made so much noise that they woke Shishi…"

"An' let me guess. Ya told the samurai not ta kill the two but ta go wake his roomie. An', once he left, the kid took the ale, which caused all the noise an' commotion. Did I guess right?"

"Yes, you did. Now, can you please stop those two before they bre-" **(Crash!)** Touya winced as he heard the sound of breaking glass followed by Chuu's wailing.

"…I think it stopped now, Touy'," Jin said as he poked his head out the door to see what happened. Either Rinku had tripped or Chuu had been able to catch the child demon but regardless of what happened the bottle had broken and there was a mess. Touya pinched the bridge of his nose as he mentally added another chore that he would have to do before he left for training.

"I agree with you. Now, can you please bring them in for breakfast? It's ready."

"Yay!"

* * *

Breakfast passed quickly and without anymore major mishaps. Afterwards, Suzuki, Rinku and Chuu went out to the clearing where training was held so that they could warm up while Jin went flying and Shishi meditated. Touya stayed at their home and did the chores on his list. He knew that he would be late for training, again, but if he didn't do it now it would never get done. He had resigned himself for whatever punishment Genkai was going to give him when he sensed the elderly psychic approaching the house. When the door opened, the petite demon braced himself for Genkai's yelling.

"There you are Touya. I wanted to talk to you," the former master psychic said. The ice master looked up at her surprised. Usually she would yell at him to get his butt to the training area.

"Forgive me, Lady Genkai, but I believe that whatever you want to say will have to wait until later. I do have to get to training."

"Not right now. This conversation cannot wait until later. I need to talk to you in private and as soon as possible. Besides that, I doubt that we would find either later."

Touya blinked. Genkai was actually _letting_ him be late for training? What so important that it needed to be talked about in private and as soon as possible?

"Very well, Lady Genkai. I will talk to you right now. Would you like for me to make you some tea before we begin?" he asked politely. Genkai shook her head.

"No, I'm fine. You can continue what you're doing. All that I'm asking of you is to listen and answer my questions truthfully. Okay?" At Touya's nod, she began, "You and the other five have been living here for about a year now. How has it been living with the others?"

"It's been a little crazy but for the most part it's alright," Touya answered as he continued to wipe up the spilled sake.

"Does one person do more housework than the rest?" At the question, Touya paused in his cleaning. Out of the six of them, Touya himself did almost all of the housework. The only place that he didn't clean was Suzuki's lab and that was because it was Suzuki's area and no one wanted to go in there if they could help it. When he remembered that Genkai was waiting for his answer, he said, "I do. If you don't mind my asking, what brought these questions on?"

"I asked someone to watch how you were all living about a month ago…"

_**Flashback**_

"_Hiei! Get down here! I need you to do something for me!"_

_A split second later, the small Fire Koorime appeared in front of her. Glaring at the woman he simply said, "What?"_

"_I want you to watch the six demons that you beat during the last Dark Tournament that are now training under me. I want you to tell me how they live."_

"_And why should I?_

"_Because Touya comes late almost every day and he looks much more haggard looking than the other five. Also, whenever the idiot invites them to go somewhere with them, Touya doesn't go with them."_

"_Have you ever thought that he simply lost track of time? Or that he spends more time training on his own? Or maybe the ice master is uninterested in the places that the detective takes them," Hiei asked irritably. "Can't you find someone else to watch them?"_

"_I thought of those possibilities but I want to be sure. And who else would I ask to watch them? The idiot always spends time with the other five; Kuwabara is too loud for his own good; Kurama_ _sticks out too much with his hair and Spirit-Youkai energy and Koenma and Botan are nearly constantly working."_

"_I still don't see why I have to do it. Why don't you do it since you're the one who's concerned?"_

"_What am I going to do? Invite myself to stay at their house for a week? They would all act differently if I was there than if I wasn't there. Besides, you're always coming and going whenever and that makes you the least conspicuous. And if you don't want to talk to them, you could just leave." Hiei was silent and Genkai sighed. "I'm only asking for a week of your time at most. If you can find the reason before then you can leave."_

"_Hn," he grunted before flitting off towards the demon's home._

_The Fire Koorime watched the house for two day before Genkai asked if he had found the reason that caused Touya to stay at home all the time and make him look more haggard than he should._

"_The Ice Master does all the housework and basically takes care of his five housemates. That is all."_

_Genkai was silent for a moment before she told Hiei that he didn't have to watch the six anymore. Once the fire demon disappeared, Genkai lapsed back into silence. No wonder Touya showed up late for training and looked more haggard than the others looked. He probably tried to do most of the housework before he was too tired and would finish probably after the other five had gone to bed. Why hadn't he tried to leave the work for the others? Or, maybe he had but it never got done. The psychic sighed. She needed to find a way to give Touya a break from that house and teach the other five a lesson in cleaning._

_**End Flashback**_

"So that's why I sensed Hiei around," Touya remarked after Genkai finished. "But how do you plan to give me a break and teach my housemates how to clean at the same time?"

"Don't worry about either. I already have a plan for your housemates…" At that, the ice shinobi shuddered slightly. _That_ did not bode well for his housemates. "…and an idea to get you away from this house for awhile. If you're done mopping that up, I can explain on the way to meet a friend of mine."

Touya nodded and rose to follow Genkai. She took him on a vaguely familiar path as she spoke.

"Touya, how many people or demons have you sensed on a daily basis? Besides your housemates, the Spirit Detectives, their friends or family and me." Touya was silent and Genkai guessed the answer. "None. Correct?"

Touya nodded.

"Well there is one more person who lives in this forest. However, she can hide her aura and energy completely. She wants to go to Makai to learn more about demons. I encourage her to go but would like to make sure that she's safe. I would go but I'm too old to make another trip to Makai and I don't have much power left. So I asked her to wait until I found someone trustworthy who knew about Makai and would be able to help keep her safe."

"And, you want me to accompany her because I meet those requirements, correct?"

"Yes. It works out really well. She can go to Makai; you can get away from that house while I teach your housemates how to clean and you can both train to become stronger. What do you say Touya?"

By now, Touya had recognized where they were and easily made his decision. "I would be glad to accompany Yuuzuki while she is traveling in Makai."

At the name, the master psychic looked at him. "Ah, so you have already met her? That's good to know. Now, we need to find her so that I can tell her."

"Tell me what, Genkai?" a voice asked from their right. Both the human and demon looked over to see a girl dressed in black sweatpants and dark green tank top in the trees. Her black hair was styled in a braid, though a few strands clung to her neck. Her deep brown eyes regarded them curiously from under her sweat soaked bangs.

"How long have you been listening to us?"

"All that I heard was the last three sentences before I spoke."

"Couldn't you have let us sensed you before you snuck up on us?"

"No, I thought that it wouldn't be the best idea to do so. No offence to you, Genkai, but you tend to react more violently to sudden appearances of spirit or demonic energy than you do to someone suddenly speaking up."

"Alright, you have a point," Genkai sighed.

"So, what did you want to tell me?" Yuuzuki asked again. Touya answered the girls' question.

"Lady Genkai wanted to tell you that I am willing to accompany you while you're traveling Makai. I know the world fairly well and she thought that I need to have a break from my housemates."

Yuuzuki blinked when the ice demon spoke up but grinned when she saw who it was. "Hey Touya. Good to see you again. I'd be glad if you would accompany me through Makai but I just hope that you're not doing this because Genkai threatened you with a near impossible training exercise."

Touya laughed at that. With Genkai, it was _always_ a possibility. "No, actually I already said that that she thought that I needed a break from my housemates. And I agree with her."

"That's good to hear. I hoped that whoever I was going with would actually want to go without being forced in some way."

"Well, I can see that I have nothing to worry about. Touya, you're excused from training today. Now go get everything that you'll need to have while you're in Makai and don't continue what you were doing earlier. You and Yuuzuki can discuss where you'll go while you're traveling. You two should probably leave tomorrow so that you can get their quickly. Touya, please spend the night at Yuuzuki's. I want to start lessons as soon as possible. But for now, I need to make sure that they're not slacking."

Both the demon and girl watched as the elderly psychic march away. Yuuzuki raised an eyebrow as she glanced at Touya and asked, "What in the nine hells did your housemates do to make Genkai so mad?"

"They left all of the housework for me to do..."

Yuuzuki winced at the answer. "No wonder she wants you to get your things and sleep at my place tonight. Genkai puts more people through hell teaching them to clean than she does training them to use their Spirit Energy. And an even worse hell at that. If you think that using Spirit Energy in harder than cleaning, you're sadly mistaken if Genkai decides to teach you how to clean."

The ice master shuddered at the description. He pitied his housemates but at the same time was relieved that he wasn't going to have to be taught. "Well, I'd better get my things now."

"Good idea. And bring anything that you want left alone. You can leave them at my place while we're in Makai. Knowing Genkai, she'll make them clean every square inch of your place. Do you want help getting everything?"

"No, I'll be able to manage."

"Alright then. I'll head back to my place and start laying stuff out to take to Makai. When you come over, just let yourself in." Touya nodded and went back to the cabin while Yuuzuki headed the opposite direction, disappearing into the trees.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho.

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Chapter 2: Truths Revealed and Pasts**

Jin was worried. Genkai had come back to watch them practice a long time ago but Touya hadn't shown up with her. Usually he would be out a minute after Genkai had gone to get him. But he had never shown. It wasn't like Touya to miss training.

Training was now over and the wind master had sent out his winds to find the one area of cold wind that always surrounded the petite demon. As soon as his winds found the ice master, Jin flew off in the direction of the house where the cold wind was. He didn't notice that Rinku, Chuu, Shishi and Suzuki were following him as fast as they could.

When they got to the house, they saw Touya coming out with a bag over his shoulder. When the red-haired demon saw the bag over his friend's shoulder, he became even more worried.

"Touya! Where were ye? Ye missed all of tranin'. Didn' Genkai come ta get ye? Why didn' ye come ta trainin'? What's the bag for? Yer not leavin' are ye?" the wind master bombarded his friend with questions. Touya tried to interrupt the worried redhead before he lost track of all the questions asked but his efforts were in vain. Which might have been a good thing because he wasn't sure how to answer some of the questions.

"Jin! Shut up!" Jin immediately complied as Genkai stalked up from behind. "To answer your questions; when I went to get him I needed to talk to him. So he missed training because I gave him permission to. As to why he has the bag, I have a friend who is going to Makai and I asked Touya to accompany her. Anymore questions?"

"Um…I have one. Please don't take this the wrong way, Touya, but why did you choose him to accompany your friend to Makai instead of one of us? I mean we work harder in training." Rinku instantly regretted those words as Genkai gave all but Touya a death glare. All of them took a step back in fear. The ice demon sensed that she was going to yell at them for a pretty long time and excused himself saying that he had to make sure that Yuuzuki didn't pack any unnecessary items. Genkai didn't shift her gaze, she just nodded and Touya said a hurried goodbye to his housemates before running off. Leaving the others to take the brunt of Genkai's wrath.

"YOU DO _NOT_ WORK HARDER IN TRAINING! ALL THAT YOU DO IS COME TO TRAINING EARLY, TRAIN AND RELAX! BELIEVE IT OR NOT, BUT _TOUYA_ DID ALMOST EVERYTHING FOR YOU! _TOUYA_ MADE SURE THAT YOU ALL HAD A MEAL! _TOUYA_ CLEANED UP ALL OF YOUR MESSES! _TOUYA_ STAYED UP LATE DOING WHATEVER CHORES NEEDED TO BE DONE! _**TOUYA**_ DID _**ALL**_ THAT EVERYDAY _**ON TOP OF**_ TRAINING _**AND**_ WHATEVER PRACTICE HE DID! YOU CALL _**THAT**_ _**LESS**_ THAN WHAT YOU DO? WELL GUESS WHAT, ALL FIVE OF YOU ARE GOING TO BE DOING THAT FOR THE ENTIRE TIME THAT TOUYA'S GONE!"

* * *

Touya heaved a sigh of relief when he entered Yuuzuki's cabin. Even after he had left, he had been able to hear Genkai yelling at the other five demons with perfect clarity.

"Are you glad that you weren't on the receiving end of that Touya?" the cabin's owner called.

"You could hear that?" the ice demon asked in astonishment.

"Yeah. Genkai is loud. It's especially normal when she's really mad. Oh, and I hope you're hungry; I made something up to eat. Just put your things anywhere and take a seat; I'll be out in a sec."

Touya did as instructed and, sure enough, Yuuzuki was out a short time later with tea and snacks on a tray. They both ate the snacks quickly and began to go through Yuuzuki's things. When they were in the middle of packing, Touya asked Yuuzuki why she wanted to go to Makai, beside the fact that Genkai wanted her to. At the question, the girl paused and, after a second of silence, she answered.

"I want to try to win the demon tournament that's coming up. I believe that it's called the Dark Tournament. Genkai told me what the prize is and I want to win it. I want to find my family." Touya was surprised at the answer. He had known that the people who used to own this small portion of the mountain had adopted her but she had never expressed any interest to meet her biological family. He watched her as she packed a few items in a bag before he spoke again.

"You do know that you need to be in a team of five to compete."

"I know. And I was hoping, if you want that is, if you would be part of my team. Or if you don't want to, could you at least help me to find three others," she said very quickly. Touya blinked at the reply. He then smirked.

"I would be glad to do both." Yuuzuki looked up from fiddling with one of her shirts.

"Really?" the long-haired girl asked apprehensively. At the blue-haired demon's nod, her frown disappeared to be replaced by a grin. "Great!"

"But..." Yuuzuki's grin faltered a bit at the word. "…I'm going to need a different look if I'm to compete on a team with you. Do you have something that I can wear?"

"Yeah. Gimme a second." She hurried out of the room. A moment later, she returned with a light blue outfit. "This should work. It's an outfit that you asked me to make. But you will have to do something different with your hair if you don't wanna be recognized. But go try it on. We'll figure out hair style later." Touya nodded and walked out of the room to get changed. Yuuzuki packed a few more approved items while she waited for the ice master.

"Well?" came an apprehensive voice. Yuuzuki looked up to see the ice master standing in the doorway. She looked Touya up and down. _'The outfit would look good if Touya's hair was longer but I can work with short hair. Otherwise, it looks great,' _she thought. It did look good on Touya. The design was simple; light blue, almost white, pants; a long sleeved shirt of the same color with pale teal cuffs; a light blue tunic edged with silver over the shirt and came down to the ankles to end in points and silver sash over the tunic. The light teal shoes were currently in Touya's hands but would complete the outfit. Yuuzuki grinned.

"It looks great! The only problem is the hair. Otherwise, it's perfect for an ice mistress." Touya raised an eyebrow.

"_Mistress_?"

"Yes, 'Mistress'. 'Master' is used for males. That outfit, if you didn't notice, is styled for a woman. And even if you masquerade as a boy, you're still a girl, Touya," the raven haired girl pointed out. She then smirked, "Besides, everyone knows of a _male_ ice master named Touya. They would never suspect a _female_ ice mistress. Though, you will have to change your name so that it's less suspicious."

"No need; I'll just use my birth name, Tsurara," Touya–Tsurara–shrugged.

"Tsurara…that really suits you. So what do you want to do now? Should we finish packing or do you want me to help you figure out a hair style?" Tsurara thought for a moment before answering.

"Well, we're nearly done packing and finishing up will just require some food to eat on the road…"

"So, hair style?" Yuuzuki asked. The blue-haired demon hesitated before nodding. "Okay. I'll get some stuff that I use for my hair and you need to wash your hair." Another nod before the ice mistress went into the bathroom to wash her hair.

* * *

Once the pale demoness was finished with washing her, surprisingly, mid-back length hair, the two spent a good part of the next hour arguing how to style Tsurara's hair. After about forty minutes, they came to a consensus. Yuuzuki would pull all but the locks of teal hair into a high ponytail. Once they decided, the raven-haired girl pulled the rest of the pale blue hair up and secured it with another band. Over the band she then placed a sliver clasp with clear and blue rhinestones on to make it look like there were ice crystals in Tsurara's hair. The teal locks hung down in front of Tsurara's face as she said that they would not block her sight.

Looking in the mirror, Tsurara gasped. She looked almost nothing like Touya. In place of the Master Ice Shinobi, was a beautiful demoness. Studying herself for a few more minutes, the petite demoness decided that she was pleased with the results.

"Well?"

Turning to the other girl, Tsurara smiled. "It's perfect. No one can say that I am Touya but if they connect me to him I can just say that I'm a cousin. Arigatou gozaimasu."

"No problem. So are you ready to find two more teammates tomorrow?"

"Two? Don't you mean three?"

"No, I mean two."

"But the Tournament requires for teams to be of five. If we only find two more people, we have a team of four."

"I know that. But…umm…" the raven haired girl looked down as she struggled to tell Tsurara what she meant. The said ice demoness narrowed her eyes

"But what?"

"But she already asked me to be on her team and I accepted." The bluenette spun around at the voice, forming ice crystals in her hand at the same time.

Standing next to the door was a tall, purple haired boy. He was dressed like Kurama, Yuusuke and Kuwabara did when they weren't training and in Ningenkai. The only difference between their clothes was the color; the boys' outfit was dark blue instead of green, magenta or light blue. His shoulder blade length hair was dark grayish purple and pulled into a low ponytail. His skin contrasted with his hair greatly by being almost unnaturally pale. The only real part of him that looked normal, besides his clothes, was his dark blue eyes. He held up his hands to show that he meant no harm.

"Tsurara, stop forming ice crystals. He's telling the truth; I did ask him to be on the team." The ice mistress did as the raven-haired girl told her to do but not without a threat. The boy merely shrugged off the threat.

"Well, I suggest that you explain what's going on Yuuzuki. Shall we go sit down?"

"You two go ahead. I'm going to make some more tea. Both of you, don't you dare hurt each other, physically or mentally. If you do harm the other, I'll tell Genkai," the girl threatened. Tsurara gulped and the purple haired boy looked scared. Yuuzuki smirked at the effect that her threat had on the two exiting the room. Then as an after thought, she yelled, "Tell each other about yourselves. At the very least, know the others' name and fighting abilities. _Without_ sparring."

Both were silent before the boy spoke. "We'd better do what she said. I've never really met Genkai personally but the stories about her training and punishment is enough to keep me from wanting to get on her bad side."

"I agree; her training almost seems like punishment. But it does help in the long run."

"_You're training under Genkai?"_ the purple-haired boy asked, shocked. "How can you say that it helps?"

"Because I am a lot stronger than when I first started training under her. And as much as I like this conversation, I need to ask your name. I don't want to do any punishment for Genkai right now."

"Understandable. My name, currently, is Minamoto Rai."

"Pleasure to meet you Minamoto-san. My name is Tsurara, but you probably figured that out earlier. I'm sorry about my earlier threat. I hope I didn't offend you."

"Not at all," he laughed. "In all honesty, I'm glad to know that you are instantly ready to fight if startled. Traveling in Makai is very dangerous and it's better to always be on your toes. And please don't call me Minamoto-san; I'm not that old."

"Then should I call you 'Rai' or by a past name?" The boy froze for a second before regaining his composure.

"What do you mean by 'past name'?"

"You said that your _current_ name is Minamoto Rai," Tsurara pointed out. "That means that you haven't always been known as Minamoto Rai but by a different name." Rai smirked.

"You're observant; not too many pick up on that. As for what you can call me…please use 'Rai' when around Ningens who don't know about Makai or while we're in Ningenkai in general. Once we cross the boarder into Makai, you can call me Kuronue." If Tsurara had pupils, they would have widened at the name. Just then Yuuzuki reentered the room.

"So, you two managed not to fight. Do you learn what I asked you to?"

"Unfortunately not. I just finished telling Tsurara some possible names that she can call me."

"Well, it's a start. But a more important question; can you two get along without having me threaten you?"

Both chuckled and nodded. "Good. Well then, I guess that I had better explain.

"When I was about 6 years old, my parents were on a mission and left me in Genkai's care. While I was staying with Genkai, she took me to the city. It was my first time to the city and with all the people around; I became overwhelmed and separated from Genkai. Because I was so overwhelmed, I couldn't sense Genkai to find her. Eventually, I came to a park where the energy was a little less overwhelming. It was there that I met Minamoto-san. He introduced me to Rai and told me to stay there while he went to look for Genkai. I was nervous because I could sense that 'Rai' was a demon. I avoided him as much as I could before he asked why I was avoiding him. I told him the reason and he told me that he wouldn't attack me without cause. He also said that even if he did attack, it would be the Ningen way because he wanted to stay with his father. I relaxed after that. Minamoto-san then came back with Genkai and we went back to the temple.

"Once my parents came home, I told them what happened and asked them if we could play every so often. After they met both Rai and Minamoto-san, they agreed. We then began to teach the other what we knew; Rai learned how to form Spirit weapons and I learned some…questionable skills. And after Genkai allowed me to go to Makai, I invited Rai because I knew that he could help. And Tsurara is the one that Genkai requested to accompany me," Yuuzuki ended, directing the last statement toward Rai. He nodded.

"That makes sense."

"Yes, it does. But I'm still confused about one thing." Both Yuuzuki and Kuronue looked at the third member of their team with confusion clearly written on their face.

"What could you possibly be confused about? Yuuzuki explained everything very well."

"I agree but I doubt that she could explain what I want to know, which is how you survived." Her statement was met with blank stares. She then elaborated with a question. "You were called Kuronue before you became human, correct?" A nod. "Well, last I heard, one of the greatest thieves in Makai, a bat demon named _Kuronue,_ was killed after stealing a mirror with Yoko Kurama. And no one sensed him pass through the barrier into the human world."

Kuronue blinked at the statement before regaining his senses and chuckling. "You certainly are a very observant demoness, Tsurara. I didn't think that you would know who I was after I gave my original name. Unless I stole something from you or your family in the past."

"You didn't steal any of my family's' processions to my knowledge. But I do remember when you stole the Cloak of Shadows from the Shinobi's vault. The guards were killed and the masters are still furious."

"The Shinobi's Vault…Cloak of Shadows…" Kuronue muttered to himself as he recalled that heist. "I remember; that was one of the more fun heists. But how do you know about that? The Shinobi never take or train girls and I doubt that the trainees are allowed to contact their families."

"You first tell me how you survived. Then I'll tell you how I know about that specific theft," the pale demoness bargained. The former bat demon looked a little startled but then grinned.

"I like you. Most would boast or rage about seeing me stealing something. Alright, I'll tell you." He leaned back in his chair and took a sip of tea before speaking, "The job seemed simple, steal the mirror and don't get caught or killed. The theft went about as smooth as expected. But I didn't predict one thing; while fighting a demon, he cut the chain of my pendent. While we were escaping, the chain snapped. The pendent was very important to me and I turned to retrieve it. When I bent down to grab it, I became trapped by bamboo spears. Once I made sure Kurama, my partner in crime, left, I removed my soul from my body. I transferred it into my pendent where I had previously placed some of my life and demon energy into. Another reason that I put my soul into my pendent was because it had the ability to hold a soul for a period of time.

"My soul remained in the pendent for years; I don't know exactly how many because my soul was dormant. When I 'woke up', my time in the pendent was up and it was forcing me to leave. But, instead of going with a ferry girl to the afterlife, I passed through the barrier into Ningenkai. Once in Ningenkai, I found a new body; the unborn and unoccupied body of the future Minamoto Rai."

Yuuzuki blinked as she processed the new information about her friend. "I always wondered where you learned some of the things that you taught me. A thief…I never would have guessed."

"Well it's not exactly something that people would talk about. Besides, who would believe me? The only ones who know that I'm not dead is the Spirit World and I haven't tried to draw attention to myself. Actually, the only time that I could have brought their attention upon myself is when I went into Makai to get my pendent."

"Makes sense. But now I'm wondering if it was a good idea to ask you to be on my team." Both demons looked at Yuuzuki, startled. Upon seeing the startled expressions, the said girl burst out laughing.

"Joking! Can't you two take a joke?" The other two stared at the laughing girl in disbelief before joining her.

Once she had stopped laughing, Yuuzuki regarded Kuronue seriously. "Did you really think that I meant that? You were my first friend that was my age, at least in human terms. I'm not going to stop being your friend just because of your past. You're different now."

"Thank you, Yuuzuki. You have no idea how much that means to me," he said sincerely. "And speaking of past…" The purple haired boy turned to face the one who basically started the conversation. "…I've told my story so now you need to explain how you know that I stole the Cloak of Shadow."

"Alright, but I can't jump into that right away. I need to tell you some of my family's history first." Both listeners nodded to indicate that she could continue. Tsurara took a deep breath before starting.

"My father was an ex-fire shinobi master and my mother was a banished Koorime. I can't recall exactly why she was exiled but I think that she tried to help the Forbidden Child. Anyway, they fell in love and mated. In due time, she gave birth to a set of twins; a boy and a girl. We lived happily for years until father received a letter. The Shinobi had found out about me and my brother and was ordering father to train both of us so that we could join the Shinobi ranks. However, they made a mistake; they thought that father had two sons. The only real differences between me and my brother, not counting gender, was our hair and eye color.

"My parents didn't have much of a choice but to train us. Father taught us how to fight, with and without our powers, and mother taught us how to heal. The Shinobi don't really know how to heal but she insisted that we learn, to use on ourselves if nothing else. Once our training with our parents was completed, me and my brother were presented to the Shinobi; my brother, Takuya, as a fire shinobi in training and me as an ice shinobi in training. However, I didn't use my birth name, 'Tsurara'. I was called 'Touya'."

"Touya? As in the Ice Master?" Kuronue questioned. Tsurara nodded. "I never would have guessed if you hadn't told me. Except for the hair and eye color, you look nothing like him…_you_…This is confusing!"

"Call down, bat. No need to scream your head off." Kuronue glared at the female Shinobi. She brushed off the glare, turning back to Yuuzuki. "Anyway, back to the topic of the tournament, I can ask Takuya if he would join the team. I won't make any guarantees that he'll join but he probably will. If he doesn't, we'll need to find two other demons. If he does, we'll need to find one more demon and make a team name."

"That would be great. I hope that you can talk him into being on our team. Otherwise it would take much longer to find two demons that wouldn't kill us or be defeated in the first round," Yuuzuki agreed. "As for a team name, let's choose one when we have all or one more member of our team. That way the name applies to all on the team."

"Iidesune," Tsurara said. Kuronue, who had been glaring at the wall for the past few minutes, nodded grumpily. The raven-haired girl grinned. Well, let's get some sleep then. We'll need to start early to have time to find Takuya and another demon," she said as she pulled out three futons along with some blankets and a pillow for each. After laying them out, all three fell asleep.

**

* * *

With Jin, Shishi, Suzuki, Chuu and Rinku**

"WHY ARE YOU JUST SITTING THERE? NO ONE SAID THAT YOU COULD HAVE A BREAK! GET BACK TO WORK!"

The five demons winced and immediately returned to the job that Genkai had assigned to them. None of them were stupid enough to argue with the elderly lady right now. After she had finished yelling at them about how Touya did everything, she had immediately ordered them to do an assigned chore. It seemed like Genkai had either made the house very messy herself or it had bee that dirty before and Touya had been cleaning but had Genkai ordered him to stop. A combination of both were most likely.

By the time that Genkai was somewhat satisfied, it was 1:27 am. All of the demons collapse in their beds and immediately fell asleep, dreading the next day.

**

* * *

4:00 am**

Before the sun even began to rise, the trees watched as two girls and a boy left a small cabin and headed into the evil forest. In the center of the forest was a heavily warded glen. The three ignored the wards and stepped into the glen, disappearing as they did.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho.

**

* * *

Chapter 3: Samurai and Shinobi**

As the day dawned in Makai, the sky illuminated three humanoid figures.

One was a male dressed completely in black and seemed almost completely human except for his aura, which indicated that he was part demon. He also had dark purple hair and sharp gold eyes that constantly moved. The other two were both females. One had pale blue hair and pupil less eyes of the same color while her outfit was variations of the color. She, like the boy, was also part demon and gave that fact away with not only her aura but also with the fact that the air around her was cooler, proclaiming her a Koorime. The last member of the small group was the oddest of the three. She looked normal, dark hair in a waist length braid and green clothes, but she gave off no aura. She might as well not be there. Another oddity of the girl was that, unlike her companions, she was completely relaxed. By her manner you would think that she only thought that she was walking through a park. But she knew full well where she was.

"So, this is Makai? Doesn't seem much different from Ningenkai."

"It is different. Unlike Ningenkai, demons can attack us at anytime," the boy said. The girl rolled her eyes.

"I know that, Rai. But I don't sense any demons nearby. At least, any demon above a class C." The boy, Rai, opened his mouth to reply but never got the chance to reply.

"Regardless of their strength, it would be a better idea to act as though they were higher. I would rather not have to waste my energy on them but, if I have to, I would rather hit them before they hit me. Also, when I last saw my brother, he was a low B-class and was occasionally mistaken for a high C-class," the Koorime told the two.

"Though, he's probably a bit stronger now…" she mused.

"Hopefully, he'll be a low A-class at least," Rai commented. "Right, Yuuzuki?"

"Yes," the green clad girl agreed. "If he's not though, I can help him get strong enough to be an A-class." Grinning at the other two, she said, "Even if I'm not as tough as Genkai, I can help others get stronger. Besides, I get the feeling that Genkai wanted you to train with me a little, Tsurara." The Koorime nodded to the statement. Turning to the purple-haired boy, Yuuzuki smiled. "You're also welcome to join us if you want to, Rai."

"I just might. And please, call me Kuronue."

"Why? I've always known you as Rai until last night. Besides, if we're going to meet shinobi and they're still mad that you stole something from them, won't they try to kill you?" she pointed out. "What do you think, Tsurara?"

"I'll agree with what Yuuzuki said. When I left, they were still furious and I seriously doubt that they suddenly forgot their grudge." Rai swallowed nervously.

"I never thought of that…"

"Be glad that Yuuzuki did," was all that Tsurara said before throwing an ice spear into a tree where a demon was preparing to attack from. The demon fell from the tree, dead.

"Nice one," Yuuzuki commented with an appraising look.

* * *

The three traveled for two more days with nothing more than a few minor demon attacks before they met a slightly stronger demon.

It looked to be like a goblin or troll with its boulder like body and sharp teeth. It hadn't noticed them as it was busy attacking a smaller demon. They might have passed by unnoticed except that the troll threw its prey their direction. As soon as it saw the boy and two girls, it temporarily forgot about the unconscious demon.

It roared before charging at them. The two demons jumped to the side. Yuuzuki, however, dropped her bag and jumped forward to land in front of the unconscious demon. Bracing herself, she grabbed the charging troll and threw it to the side with seemingly little effort. That just made the troll angrier though. It stood back up and prepared to charge again, but it never got the change to go more than three steps.

After she had thrown the troll, Yuuzuki had put both of her hands out in front of her before pulling her right hand back past her ear. At the same time, green light gathered above the extended index finger of her left hand before it followed the path of the right. Once the troll had began to charge, the raven haired girl uncurled the fingers of her right hand and released the arrow of Spirit Energy.

The arrow struck the troll in the middle of its forehead and killed instantly. The two demons watched in amazement.

"Wow…" Kuronue breathed. Even though he was Yuuzuki's friend, he had never really seen her spar or train outside of their 'lessons' with the other.

"'Wow' indeed," the Koorime agreed. "That's definitely not something that Genkai taught her…"

Both then shook off their amazement and approached the girl who was now kneeling next to the other demon. As they did, a glint on the ground caught the former thief's eye. Walking to it, he found the glint to be caused by a large blade. Carefully picking it up, he noticed that it was attached to a long pole; a naginata. He was very doubtful that the troll carried it; unless it liked that it was shiny and wanted to have it. If that was the case, then it had to be newly acquired. Moving over to the three, naginata in hand, he found out what the owner of the weapon looked like.

The demon which the troll had attacked was female with very pale skin and white or very light silver hair that was styled into two buns. Her eyes were hidden behind closed lids that were lightly colored pink. The shirt and hakamas were torn with blood staining the area around the tears. The fabrics original color looked like it might have been white and blue but the blood had made the colors unrecognizable now.

The air became cooler as Tsurara began to heal the demoness' major wounds. Once she was done with that, the petite demoness suggested that they move off the road. Yuuzuki nodded and retrieved her bag while Kuronue gently picked the pale demoness up. They then moved into the forest to rest and heal the unconscious demoness.

**

* * *

Ningenkai; Genkai's Temple**

Yuusuke whistled as he climbed the stairs to his ex-master's temple. He was planning to take the six demons who were currently her pupils to a nearby hot spring he'd found. And this time, he was going to get the ice master to join them. The battle demon was tired of Touya always refusing to join them when he invited the six on an outing. Yuusuke was even prepared to drag the ice master if he had to. Turning in the direction that the six lived, he greeted Yukina as he passed. He didn't see Genkai anywhere along the path to the cabin though he could sense that she was nearby.

Upon entering the cabin he found only five of the six demons present and all of them looked horrible. He blinked in surprise and confusion at the sight before blankly asking, "What happened to you guys? And where's Touya?" The five turned only their heads to look at him.

"Hey Yuusuke," Jin greeted. Yuusuke began to get worried when he noticed the lack of the usual energy in the normally energetic redhead's voice. "How are ya?"

"Better than the five of you by the look and feel of it," he answered dryly. "What's the hag making you do? You all look awful."

"Apparently, we left all the housework undone and Touya did all of it in the little free time we had," Suzuki explained, for once not saying anything about not looking awful. At the answer, the battle demon frowned while he took a seat at the table.

"What's that gotta do with how you look?"

"Genkai found out," Chuu mumbled. "When she yelled at us, she said something about Touya hardly sleeping between the chores and training but still managing to complete both perfectly."

"Then she said that we were gonna do the same and has kept us busy with training and chores ever since. We haven't had any free time since," Rinku finished.

Shishi nodded. "As for Touya, since he was the one who did everything, Genkai gave him a break by having him escort one of her friends through Makai."

"Damn," Yuusuke muttered. There went the plan of getting the ice master to join them on an outing.

"WHAT ARE YOU FIVE DOING? TAKING A BREAK?" The six jumped. "TOUYA DIDN'T GET BREAKS! IF YOU'RE DONE WITH CLEANING THE CABIN FOR NOW, ALL OF YOU COULD DO WITH SOME PRACTICE! AND IDIOT, WHATEVER YOU'RE PLANNING TO DO WITH THEM IS NOT GONNA TO HAPPEN UNTIL I SAY IT WILL!" The five demons jumped to their feet.

"Sorry Yuusuke. Bu' it's not a brigh' idea fer us ta cross 'er righ' now. We'll see ya later," Jin called as he and the other four ran out the door to do as Genkai had ordered.

'_O-kay…so they won't be able to go to the hot springs…'_ he thought. _'Well, at least I know why Touya always refused to join us. I really doubt that Rinku, Chuu, Suzuki and Jin really noticed a mess unless it affected them. And Shishi is either always meditating or practicing with the Banshee Shriek.'_ He sighed. From what the guys had said it might be awhile before Genkai would let them have a break.

**

* * *

With Tsurara, Yuuzuki and Kuronue; Makai**

Kuronue and Yuuzuki watched as Tsurara healed the demoness they had 'rescued'. Tsurara was very good at healing even though she must have rarely used those powers. Each bruise faded away into nothing and every cut knit back together leaving only a small scar in their place. Soon the only signs that she had been wounded were her torn and bloody clothes. As the Koorime finished her work, the air warmed.

"I've done all can," she announced. "We'll have to wait for her to wake up now." Both of her companions nodded. The only boy of the current group then turned to the aura-less girls.

"Why did you protect her? You don't know her at all and, for all we know, she could kill us the moment she wakes up," he pointed out.

"She won't," the other replied confidently. "She has the aura of a samurai about her. That means that she won't attack without cause. Also, she's a mid A-class demoness and would be a good member to be on our team if she wishes to be."

Both demons sighed at the answer. It figured that Yuuzuki would be able to think of the tournament while fighting. But if Takuya didn't join and this demoness did, at least they would only have to find one more demon.

Just then, the said demoness groaned and began to stir. The three quieted as they watched her. She shivered before her eyes opened revealing pink irises surrounding cat-like pupils. Sitting up, she noticed the three pairs of eyes on her and reached to her side. When her hand met the ground, she looked startled and looked down to find that whatever she had been reaching for wasn't there. At that, she tensed; bracing herself for any attacks and preparing to attack if needed. Yuuzuki prevented either from happening.

"Don't worry; we won't attack or harm you. We stopped a troll demon from sending you to the Spirit Realm and healed your wounds." The demoness relaxed slightly at that.

"Then, I thank you." She then frowned. "You have no aura, yet you can be seen and walk this realm. How is that?"

"Eh? Oh, sorry. It's habit for me to completely hide my aura. I'm not used to letting others sense it."

"You are very good at it and it is wise to hide your aura in Makai. What is your name?"

"Watashi wa Takenaka Yuuzuki. These two are my friends and traveling companions; Tsurara…" she gestured to the Koorime who nodded in greeting. Yuuzuki then pointed to Kuronue, "…and Minamoto Rai." The boy winked at the demoness before pulling out the naginata and offering it to her, pole end first.

"I found this and a bag near the place where you were attacked. Are they yours?" he asked though he already knew the answer. She nodded as she took the naginata.

"My name is Yukitsume. Thank you for returning it; it has been in my family since it was forged from my ancestors' claws."

"You're welcome. If you don't mind me asking; why are you traveling Makai?"

"I could ask you the same question."

"We are looking for my brother," Tsurara answered. "And before you ask; yes, I know that all Koorime are female but I am only half Koorime." Yukitsume nodded at the answers. She had heard of the Forbidden Child, the male fire demon who was half Koorime, and guessed that Tsurara's brother was that demon. Yuuzuki added onto the first answer.

"And after we find him, we hope that he will join us to fight in the Dark Tournament." The samurai blinked at that.

"You plan to fight in the Tournament?" The three nodded. "Then…may I…join you…? I aim to bring honor to my family again and…"

"Say no more, Yukitsume," Yuuzuki grinned. "I was going to ask you anyways. Even if Tsurara's brother joined us, we would have been one short. Just one thing; during practice, don't cut us to ribbons. I don't think that it would be a good idea if Tsurara used all her ki healing us." The demoness chuckled and agreed. The four then prepared to sleep and talk the night away.

**

* * *

Toranin; Makai**

After the failed attempt to take the demons to the hot springs, Yuusuke returned to Toranin. Entering his study, a mountain of documents awaited him to sign on almost every available surface of the desk. He sighed.

"I never agreed to this when I agreed to be the heir."

"Then what did you agree to, Yuusuke?" The mentioned demon spun around at the voice, preparing a Spirit Gun as he did. Behind him stood a red haired fox demon, calm despite the Spirit Gun aimed at him.

"Kurama! Ya nearly gave me a frickin' heart attack," the battle demon complained as he dissipated the Spirit Gun. Kurama just smiled.

"At least I don't attack you as a greeting. Also, I sent a note ahead of me informing you that I was coming for a visit."

"Didn't hear a thing about that. I was in Ningenkai visiting the guys and Keiko yesterday. So, what's this visit about?"

"What, I can't visit an old friend for the sake of it?" the fox demon asked, teasingly. "Actually, I bear a message from Yomi. The Dark Tournament is coming up, as you probably know, and Yomi proposes that a representative of each area of Makai compete together as a team. Yomi has selected me as the representative of Gauharu. The other areas I have visited so far have all declined to join the team."

"And what makes you think that I'll join?" Yuusuke asked.

"For one thing, it gets you out of signing papers," he pointed out, chuckling when the Demon Lord growled, glaring at the mentioned papers. "Besides, you're Urameshi Yuusuke, formerly Tokyo's most feared street fighter, and the chosen heir to the strongest Demon Lord. You'd never turn down a fight."

"Damn right! I'll join!" Kurama grinned at the former Spirit Detective's enthusiasm.

"Yomi will be please to hear that. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to see Mukuro about Yomi's proposition. Though, I'm anticipating no disagreement."

"Don't you ever sleep? It's pretty late already so why don't you stay here for tonight? Kami-sama knows we have more than enough space. Even if you do leave now, you'll have to sleep before you get halfway to the boarder."

The redhead thought about it for a moment before nodding. "Point taken. Even if I travel all night, I would get there tomorrow. I'll accept your offer. Thank you, Yuusuke."

"No prob. Just don't call me a bad host. I doubt that I can leave this room tonight. I'm not sure but I think that most of those need to be signed by tomorrow," he said, jerking his thumb at the papers.

"Alright. Would you like help sorting those? I still need to talk to you about our team."

"Suit yourself."

Kurama nodded and took a stack of the documents, sorting them by date they needed to be signed by. "Mukuro should allow Hiei to join us but that will still leave us at a team of three…"

**

* * *

The Edge of the Shinobi's Land; Makai**

"Doesn't look much different than when I last saw it," Kuronue remarked, peering through the trees. "I think that I could find…"

"Maybe you can but Takuya won't listen to you," Tsurara interrupted. "Besides, the traps were improved after that incident and by the looks of it have been doubled. I'll go since Takuya will listen to me and I know how the traps work."

"Sounds good. We'll find a place to camp near that grove we passed awhile ago," Yuuzuki said, not bothering to argue with the demoness. Closing her eyes, she allowed her senses to expand over the forest then pointed north-west. "I can sense a demon with fiery ki over there. It's a low A-class. It might be you're brother because I don't sense anymore demons that can use fire. I'll take your bag so that you don't have to worry about it." Tsurara nodded in thanks before running into the forest.

"Is it wise for her to enter the land belonging to the Shinobi?" Yukitsume asked as they turned to find a place to camp. "The tales of the Shinobi are very…descriptive at how they treat strangers in their land; especially females."

"She once lived among them. If you want more details, ask Tsurara when she gets back," the raven haired girl shrugged. "Either way, she did have a point; her brother is more likely to listen to her without having to bang his head. It's best that she went."

"But I could have told her brother that she wanted to talk to him," Kuronue whined. He wanted to see if he could get past all the improved traps. His friend rolled her eyes.

"If you really want to, go ahead. Just don't haunt me if the shinobi kill you for having an aura that is almost exactly like the aura of someone they hold a grudge against. I'll take you're bag and we'll find a camping place."

"On second thought, he would probably have wounded me before I could say anything. I'll come with you." Yukitsume rolled her eyes and wondered why he was here. He always wanted to do something but whenever anyone pointed out the possibility of getting killed, he changed his mind. If he didn't want to die, he should have just stayed at home.

* * *

Tsurara jumped from a branch to the ground before jumping back up into the trees. The shinobi had added more traps since she and Jin left but they were all old ones and she could easily spot them.

'_**This**__ is the work of the Shinobi? They have been slacking off since I left…' _she thought before sensing an approaching aura. Pausing in a tree, pupil less blue eyes watched as a red haired male demon entered the small clearing. Seeing the familiar demon, she allowed a small portion of her shield down to let the demon below her sense her aura. The demon started and began to look into the bushes and trees.

"Tsurara?" he called softly. The demoness smirked slightly and dropped from her perch.

"Long time no see, nii-san."

"Tsurara!" He embraced her quickly before releasing her. "What are you doing here looking like that? You know what the Shinobi do to females that they find on their land that they didn't bring here."

"Yes, I know. But you also know that 'he' is not welcome here since he left as well. And I'm not planning to stay long. I just came to give you an invitation."

"What invitation?"

"I'm going to compete in the Dark Tournament again. So far, the team that I'm a part of is one member short. Would you like to be the fifth member?" Takuya blinked at the invitation but confusion was soon replaced by thoughtfulness.

"I'm not sure…the Shinobi will have my head for running off even if it's to compete in the tournament…" Tsurara, seeing where this was headed, smirked. She knew that her brother liked being a part of the Shinobi as much as she liked being dishonorable. In other words, he wanted to get out some way that didn't get him killed. His hesitance was just to make sure that he could get out of the Shinobi Sect and live.

"Afterwards you can live with me and Jin. Our housemates are a little wild but they're okay. Just be prepared for a lot of hard training."

"Sounds fine. I can handle more training. Should I get a bag of stuff and meet you at the edge of the land?"

"No. The Shinobi are all about secrets, right? Let's leave like the shinobi, quickly and unnoticed. At least then, we have a head start before they start hunting you." The fire demon nodded and both jumped into the trees, leaving the Shinobi Sect and unwanted pasted behind.

* * *

"Rai, stop pacing. Tsurara's fine," Yuuzuki sighed as she watched her friend, upside down, as she did handstand push-ups. Yukitsume was practicing with her naginata a short distance away while wondering how much trouble she would get in if the demon-steel staff 'accidentally' connected with the boys' head.

"But you don't know if that even was her brother," Kuronue almost yelled. "For all you know she was found by a different Shinobi and can't escape."

"I didn't know you cared," a dry voice commented before two figures landed behind the former thief. Standing up, blue pupil less eyes regarded the boy before their owner continued, "You don't need to worry about me. I am currently an A+ level demon and I have no doubt that Yuuzuki could sense if I was in trouble." Kuronue opened his mouth to retort but was cut off before he could get a word out.

"Is this one of your housemate, Tsu? Because weird seems to be a better description than wild."

"Fortunately, not. This is Minamoto Rai but he would prefer to be called by his past name, Kuronue."

"_Kuronue? You're_ the bat demon who _successfully_ _stole from the Shinobi's Vault?_ _That_ Kuronue?" Takuya exclaimed looking delighted. The purple haired boy blushed and rubbed the back of his head, use to a negative reaction his old name brought. Tsurara, noticing his embarrassment and confusion, quickly explained.

"Takuya's first master was guarding the vault the night you stole from it and was killed. Even for a shinobi, he was cruel. Takuya's next master was considerably kinder. He has always wanted to thank you for that."

"My second master was not considerably kinder. The only one who would have been considerably kinder was Otou-san," Takuya argued. Tsurara rolled her eyes; apparently, they had this conversation before.

"The shinobi wouldn't have let Otou-san train you. And compared to your first master, the second was much better. Now, can you please let me finish introducing the others on the team?" Silence met her question and the Koorime took that as a cue to continue before pointing to the cat demoness. "That is Yukitsume. She just recently joined us when we…met her on the road."

The demoness samurai nodded in greeting as she reached a lull in her pattern dance. Her naginata then returned to a blur of silver as the pace picked up.

"And finally, Takenaka Yuuzuki. Yuuzuki was the one who started the team and will help us get stronger by the time the tournament begins." The girl pushed up harder than before to free one hand, which she waved in greeting.

"'Youroshiku! I'm glad to hear that you decided to join us." She then flipped back onto her feet and motioned for her teammates to join her around the fire. They joined her and sat down, confused. "We should decide on a team name soon. Tonight we can at least get some ideas down. We'll decide later, but I would like a general idea of what we should be called. And please try not to choose something that only applies to you."

All five lapsed into silence as they thought about what they wanted their team name to be.

Yukitsume was the first to speak, "I do not know about any of you, however, I would like our team name to be something honorable."

The half Koorime twins nodded. "We can agree to that," they said simultaneously. They gave each other a wry smile before turning back to the other three.

"While we did what ever our Shinobi masters told us to…" Takuya began.

"…We tried to be as honorable as we could," Tsurara completed. Yuuzuki chuckled at the sentence completion.

"You two really are twins." Seeing their confused looks, she explained, "Usually only twins can complete each others sentences seamlessly or speak in sync." They shrugged. "Rai, your thoughts?"

"What would honorable be considered when in battle?" the boy asked.

The cat samurai answered, "To give your opponent a fair chance. You do not attack them with a weapon if they are unarmed, attack from behind or, if you disarmed them, allow them the chance to retrieve their weapon."

The bat hanyou grinned, "I can do that. I actually prefer a challenge when fighting."

The raven-haired girl grinned at how easily they agreed. "I like that idea. Why don't we call ourselves…Youki no Meiyo?"

"Youki? But aren't you a ningen, Yuuzuki?" the purple haired boy asked, confused. The questioned chuckled.

"Actually, I'm a hanyou. I don't know what kind of youki I am though; I thought that maybe I could figure it out if I saw the youki here." Realization dawned on Tsurara.

"So that's why you said demonic energy when you told Lady Genkai that she reacts more violently after you snuck up on us."

"Yeah. So, what do you think of calling our team Youki no Meiyo?"

"'Demons of Honor'…I find it suitable."

"Sounds good to me."

"We're fine calling ourselves that."

"Then it's settled; we are Team Youki no Meiyo," the raven haired girl announced. The other four grinned and nodded.


End file.
